This hobby seems tough already and i haven't even started. Now i'm reading that getting RODI water from a well isn't an easy task. Guess who has well water. ME! I just bought a BRS 4 stage 75gpd and wondering if i should just return it. I'm hearing peoples DI resin depleted after a week or 100 gallons, having to get booster pumps, having to get CO2 out of the water first before passing it thru RODI. Getting pre-filters. Just sounds like more of a hassle then anything else. I'm not running to LFS to get water so i really need to decide whether to proceed or not. And I just got done building a nice custom stand for my 120 gallon :-(. went from excited to feeling defeated.
Great more bad news
- Thread starter fernalfer
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RayAllen3422
New member
It shouldn't be the end of the world. Have you looked into a CO2 degasser?
you need about 80 pounds of pressure to drive mine very fast, I know. If you can fill a one Brute trashcan with wellwater, then use a pump to push the water from one can to another with the ro/di in the middle, it should be doable. No huge system, no outlay except for the pump. The refills for the cylinders don't cost much. But knowing what's in your well-water might deliver you good news: some well water is fine to use. Others not so much.
gone fishin
New member
I have a well and other than the initial RO/DI set up I purchased a booster pump. The RO/DI setup is a sediment filter to a carbon block to RO membrane to DI then to my ATO or mix barrel.
From my experience with my well I have not had any real issues other than routine maintenance. I really do not keep track of gallons of water/DI cartridge but I would guess somewhere around 350 to 400g. I change my sediment and carbon filters 2-3 times a year and the RO membrane around 4-5 years. I do not bother with any type of CO2 off gassing.
FWIW I am surrounded by farms and my TDS will change seasonally spring and summer 300-400, fall winter 200-300.
From my experience with my well I have not had any real issues other than routine maintenance. I really do not keep track of gallons of water/DI cartridge but I would guess somewhere around 350 to 400g. I change my sediment and carbon filters 2-3 times a year and the RO membrane around 4-5 years. I do not bother with any type of CO2 off gassing.
FWIW I am surrounded by farms and my TDS will change seasonally spring and summer 300-400, fall winter 200-300.
I have well water and I think I'm going to use this idea, however I'm having trouble figuring out what kind of pump I need. I have the BRS 75gpd 4 stage, I'm thinking on filling a brute can from my well and then pumping it to my unit. However the water is going to be pumped about 6ft vertically before it gets to my unit. Anybody have ideas?
I also like the idea of filling brute tub with well water and then using a pump to run it from tub thru RODI to another tub. Can run an airstone or powerhead to try and release thew CO2 in first tub. My question is what kind of pump is used to do so?
http://www.thefilterguys.biz/booster_pumps.htm
This is not the only one, but we have filter people as some of Reef Central's sponsors, and I think they could very easily recommend a specific pump to solve your problem.
This is not the only one, but we have filter people as some of Reef Central's sponsors, and I think they could very easily recommend a specific pump to solve your problem.
I've been toying with doing this as well, just haven't gotten around to it. I get about 200 gallons out of a single DI refill off my well. I also run two DI stages in series. TDS is about 6-7 out of the RO stages so I'd think I ought to be doing better than 200 gallons?
So Sk8r what you are saying is i should fill a brute can directly from the well water. Then have a second brute bucket empty. Buy a booster pump like in the link you posted and run the RODI tubing from the water in the first brute through the booster pump and out to the RODI and then good filtered water goes into the 2nd Brute correct.
Also if i'm correct on the process above should i run an airstone in the first bucket to try and rid any CO2 that could possibly be in the water for a day before starting the process above?
I posed this in another thread about the same issues.
If you go the well route, you will need to degas the Co2 from the water after it goes thru the RO membrane, but before it goes into the DI. If not you will burn thru DI resin. I have a well and if I don't degas, I might get 100 gallons before the resin is shot. Now, I've made over 300 gallons, and the resin doesn't show any signs of changing color. TDS still 0
Here is how I do it:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548783
If you go the well route, you will need to degas the Co2 from the water after it goes thru the RO membrane, but before it goes into the DI. If not you will burn thru DI resin. I have a well and if I don't degas, I might get 100 gallons before the resin is shot. Now, I've made over 300 gallons, and the resin doesn't show any signs of changing color. TDS still 0
Here is how I do it:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2548783
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CStrickland
New member
CO2 is small enough to pass the ro membrane, but it gets taken up by the di stage. That's wasting di resin that could be taking out bad stuff.
Low ph water can hold a LOT of CO2.
Wells are more likely to produce low ph (acidic) water than municipal supplies.
So it's mostly people on wells that have issues with a lot of CO2 in their water, wasting the di resin.
If you set up an off gas stage, the ph in the water can neutralize and the CO2 can go into your air (instead of your di).
It's kinda the same idea as a tank using gas exchange, or skimmer aeration, or a CO2 scrubber, to stabilize ph by releasing CO2. But you're doing it to the source water so that CO2 doesn't use up all your di
Low ph water can hold a LOT of CO2.
Wells are more likely to produce low ph (acidic) water than municipal supplies.
So it's mostly people on wells that have issues with a lot of CO2 in their water, wasting the di resin.
If you set up an off gas stage, the ph in the water can neutralize and the CO2 can go into your air (instead of your di).
It's kinda the same idea as a tank using gas exchange, or skimmer aeration, or a CO2 scrubber, to stabilize ph by releasing CO2. But you're doing it to the source water so that CO2 doesn't use up all your di
None that I can see, other that the issue you might have priming a booster pump or the possibility of it running dry or putting unfiltered water through it.
Typically a booster pump is plumbed inline after the 1st sediment filter and before any carbon filters. This way it gets pressure fed with filtered water from your house. Not sure if it will suck water up from a barrel. I never tried.
I added the degassing set up after my RODI because it was already plumbed and running. So for me it was easier to go the route I did.
RO -> Degassing barrel ->DI cartridges.
One thing it does allow me to do, since I use a hand held TDS meter, I can easily check the TDS level of the water coming out of the RO and before it goes thru the DI to see it my membrane is working properly.
But either way, as long as you're degassing the co2 before the DI resin, you should be good to go.
Wouldn't you have to use the booster pump to pump water from the degasser barrel to the DI cartridges anyways? If so why not just put water straight from well in first container then degass the CO2 and the run it from that barrel thru the RODI into the 2nd Barrel with the filtered water?
CStrickland
New member
You can just use a little pump for the di part, it doesn't need as much pressure as the ro membrane. Or put the unit after the degasser, with the possible downsides that member mentioned.
I came across this graph that might help you. You can check your tap water ph, and alk, then you draw a line between them to tell you your CO2. Rather than buying a CO2 tester. You could be worried for nothing, and the water is fine.
I've never used this graph, so I can't vouch from personal experience. But it's from spectrapure, and they are a really profesh rodi-maker.
EDIT: here's a calculator to get your alk in ppm's since most of the time we use dkh
http://saltyzoo.com/saltycalcs/alkconv.php
I came across this graph that might help you. You can check your tap water ph, and alk, then you draw a line between them to tell you your CO2. Rather than buying a CO2 tester. You could be worried for nothing, and the water is fine.
I've never used this graph, so I can't vouch from personal experience. But it's from spectrapure, and they are a really profesh rodi-maker.
EDIT: here's a calculator to get your alk in ppm's since most of the time we use dkh
http://saltyzoo.com/saltycalcs/alkconv.php
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I am on well water with very high C02. I was lucky to get 50 gallons made before my DI was exhausted. I use a booster pump and run well water through the normal RO stage into a holding tank. I have a pump in the holding tank that churns the water thus degassing the C02 into the atmosphere. I let the RO water degas for a minimum of 24 hours then I pump the RO water through DI resin. Now I can make a couple hundred gallons on a single DI charge,
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